And You Wondered Where Your Taxes Went...

There was a report recently that the Chief Diversity Officer in the State Department, a Mr. John Robinson (who apparently doesn't have enough real work to occupy himself) warned his colleagues that a large number of common idioms, such as "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" described racist attitudes. Since Mr. Robinson also serves as the director of the Office of Civil Rights in the very same State Department, his interest in the subject and his viewpoint might be understandable.
Now, while in very narrow, factual terms this individual might be correct, he would only be correct if you went back in history and delved into the original meaning of these phrases.
For example, "hold down the fort" was apparently a reference to maintaining a careful security vigil in outposts on the Western frontier of America to guard against attacks by any of the Indian tribes who took understandable exception to whites moving into the neighborhood.
Apparently Native American shamans had...(Read Full Post)